Grace
by ChampagneTasteBeerMoney
Summary: The companion piece to "The Holiday". Joshaya and Riarkle. Josh x Maya, Riley x Farkle.
1. Intro

This was worse than yelling. The sounds of their voices were passive-aggressive and hard, all to keep professional. Maya thought she'd rather be yelled at then reprimanded like a child but Farkle and Katy were handling it. It sounded that way, anyway.

Just two days after Maya got sick at MTV and found out about her unplanned pregnancy, her label called her in for an emergency meeting. TMZ was all over the story. Internet trolls and devoted fans were arguing about her alleged drug use and eating disorder underneath her videos. To put the icing on the cake, she was sidelined as everyone in the big room made choices about her future. Her and her child's future. Amidst all the firm talk, the only thing Maya could think about was the baby inside of her. An actual tiny being, just growing and growing and growing. It was surreal. It was incredible. It was terrifying but most of all, it was her's. And Josh's.

She hasn't spoken to him in months, since Arizona. How could she? Maya left him jilted in a hotel room after trying to connect over their dead fathers. What was she supposed to do? Call him and say, "Hey, congratulations on the baby!" And he'd say, "What?" She'd say, "You're having a baby! With me! Kudos!"

Or she could text him.

 _hey, how's life? sorry about leaving you in arizona but i'm preggers! text me back, babyzaddy!_

Although, he probably blocked her. Maybe she didn't have to tell him at all. Katy got pregnant with Maya at 17. She knew that Kermit was a fuck-up but because they were so young and without options, she knew it was better to have him around - someone around - then not at all. Or that's what she thought at the time. At first, everything was sweet. Ne'er-do-well but, Kermit's intentions were always good like when he and Maya had a sugar-fest and he'd be crashed out on the couch, leaving Katy with their hyperactive child. Or when, instead of groceries, he bought Maya her paints, after she was caught drawing on walls. Still, he drank. It didn't become so troubling until his Maya became privy to his drunkenness. Katy told him to get help or leave because she could do bad all by herself. Three weeks later, he died.

Would it be so bad? Raising a kid by herself? And she really wouldn't be by herself; she'd have Farkle. And Katy and Zay but most importantly, Farkle. Deep down, however, Maya knew thinking this way was selfish. Growing up without a father was the most exquisite pain and she'd rather lose her voice forever than make her child go through that. There was one more option, though.

To not go through with it.

* * *

 **AN: Hello! And we're back. Sort of. I officially got a promotion at work and by fall, with school, I'll be around very seldom. But, I just wanted to give ya'll a taste and let you know that I'm still around and I intend to stick around to finish all my stories (ALL OF THEM). To do that and give more routine updates, though, the chapters won't be as meaty each time. So this story in particular will have more chapters but less words, as you can see by this short intro. I think that's all I've got to say right now, so TTFN! (Ta-ta for now!)**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing.**


	2. The Right Decision

"So, what happened?"

The whole car ride back to Maya's house was deafening. Maya sat in the backseat while Katy and Farkle were in front. It was like two parents trying to keep something important from their child. Something that they thought she wouldn't be able to handle. Farkle kept a very cool head about it all and Katy tried to do the same for as long as she could. But her lid tipped over as soon as Maya broke the silence.

"Nothing's wrong, baby-girl! There is still probably something we can do!" Katy held her daughter's face and made a convincing gaze that only scared Maya more.

Agitated, Farkle rolled his eyes at Katy making promises that she may not be able to keep. They agreed to do this unemotionally and calm. He should have known better than to ask that of her. "Technically, she _did_ break contract - "

"I don't care! They can't just do this to her!" Katy snapped at him tearfully. Then, she covered her mouth and dropped on the couch, devastated.

"Do what?" Farkle didn't answer her and Katy was too busy trying not to cry. "Do what?!"

"Maya, maybe you should sit down." Farkle softly suggested.

"No! What's going on? Are they dropping me?" She looked him in the eyes, watching his every move.

He inhaled sharply, choosing his words carefully, "not officially."

" _Not officially?_ "

"The label has been very lenient towards you in terms of creative freedom. The only real condition they had was that you tour and promote whenever they ask, where ever they ask."

"OK...?"

"Because you're pregnant now, you can't do that and they're not very happy about that. So... they're shelving _Breakthrough_. "

Maya felt the air escape her lungs. "What?"

"To them, if you can't promote it, it won't sell. Until you can, all progression is on hold and while that's happening, they're pretty much trying to decide whether to keep you or not."

"Well, I can still go to Youtube!"

"Maya, you know better than that. The music was made in their studio with their producers and money. They'll sue you."

Distressed, Maya pushed her dirty blond locks away from her face. She hasn't showered ever since she found out about the baby. "But, I mean, who says I can't tour?! Musicians do it all the time! Beyonce tours while pregnant! She dances and moves, and all I'm basically doing is sitting in a freakin' chair, playing guitar!"

"But Beyonce didn't pass out on national television. They don't want or need another disaster like that happening. They don't want anymore bad publicity."

"But it's not going to happen again! Did you tell them that?"

"Of course I did, but there's no guarantees. Unless... you terminate the pregnancy."

She didn't know how she felt about being a mother but now, her career was on the line too. Gravity pushed Maya down on the couch, next to her mother. Instantly, she was wrapped in a hug by Katy that she didn't fight.

Farkle joined them. "Listen, I know a lot has happened over the past week. Don't make a decision right now. We don't have to give them an answer right away. OK?" Maya nodded, still in her mother's arms. Farkle kissed her forehead and pat Katy on the shoulder before making his exit.

"Do you want me to leave?" Her mother whispered and she shook her head.

Katy slowly rocked Maya in her arms without being asked. Her voice was so weak and she was feeling so helpless, "I just want to go home."

Katy quirked a brow, "Baby-girl, we're in your house right now."

"No. I mean to our house."

* * *

Of all the places that she visited, Maya's favorite vacation spot is and will always be her mother's bed. When they had just moved to California, Katy was unemployed for a spell. They survived off her boyfriend Nick's help, Breyer's Butter Pecan ice-cream and Golden Girls re-runs. They eventually did break up which was unfortunate because Maya really liked Nick. He was a good guy. So much so, that he offered to rent out the house to Katy after finding a new flat to live in. It would be much easier for him move out than to uproot his ex-girlfriend and her daughter. Strong-willed, Katy was reluctant, not wanting to be reliant on him when they were no longer together but she accepted. She had no family in California, no proper income to find a better place on her own, no choice.

Katy was always in-between jobs. She hosted bingo nights at a retirement home on Sundays. She also performed in a marionette-theater troupe for kids at schools and libraries. Even worked at a gay bar for a little while, handing out raffle tickets for grab-that-ass bags and mixing martinis. Her primary job was manager of the Silversun Diner, home of the best pancakes in Anaheim. Katy loves people: talking to them, servicing them and being apart of their lives. Still, no person was more important than her daughter.

When her baby girl became Maya Hart, Superstar, Katy was right there every step of the way. As soon as her first deal was signed, Maya told her to hang up her apron and puppets and drag wigs because she'd never have to work again. But, like it or not, all Katy knew was working so of course she had to make herself useful somewhere and so, Maya gave her the position of "Momager". She was going to try to control everything anyway, because she was mother. Might as well give her an official title.

But now, all that might be over. The Hart women would have to start over. Again.

Katy came back into the bedroom with two full bowls of ice cream. Maya was tucked in, laughing at something Rose said. The mother slid into comfort with her daughter and just like that, life came full circle. Maya's hands encased her mother so wholly, it reminded Katy of when she was young and she'd pick her up from school. The older woman felt bad for loving how needy her daughter was being with her right now.

Then, Maya whispered ever so softly, "mommy?"

"Yes, baby girl?"

"... What made you decide to keep me? I mean, you were so young and dad was so - _dad._ Gammy and Pop Pop wanted you to give me away."

Suddenly, Katy was 16 again, staring at a used pregnancy test, petrified. Being soft in the face of her daughter's fear, while most tempting, would not be the most helpful at this moment. She stroked Maya's fair blonde hair and recounted every thought and feeling that she had.

"Honestly... Maya, there were so many reasons why I kept you but at the time, a lot of them weren't very selfless. I mean, like you said: I was very, very young. I was just a little tadpole, even, about to give birth to another little tadpole. I didn't grow up in the most supportive of homes - and you know I love your grandparents but... And your father wasn't the most fatherly, shot-gunning beers before homeroom." Katy made a mournful, reminiscent smile. "I... I suppose I thought you would fix all that. Mama and Daddy would see how well I could take of you and they would trust me again. You'd make Kermit grow up. Best of all, you'd be the only thing in my life that I could call mine. Someone to love me, no matter what I did. Someone to need me." Maya could hear the tears in Katy's voice and it made her cry too. Until hearing this, she didn't know that they were so much alike.

"But you want to know what I didn't know, baby-girl? I didn't know that I was the one who needed you. I didn't know how much I needed you until I saw your little, sweet face looking up at me. Ever since then, I knew that as long as you were safe, happy and healthy, things were going to be OK. I was going to be OK." Then, Katy tenderly put her daughter's face in her hands and they gazed into each other's eyes.

"Maya, you have to know whether you have this baby or you don't have this baby, you are going to be OK. I will make sure of it. I would never let you not be. You're the love of my life, Maya. I will never let you fall."

Maya crumpled into her mother's hands, bawling for the first time in months. "Momma, I'm so scared."

"It's OK, baby-girl." Katy hushed her. "Momma's, got you."

* * *

"OK, breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out." Maya was back in her house, sitting on her bed. Her tripod sat in front of her and her ring light shone in her eyes. She pressed record on her camera.

"Here goes everything," she whispered to herself. "Maya Vlog, take one."

Hey, Maya here! What's good interwebz? OK, so, I know that after the MTV incident, I scared a lot of you with what happened and I am so terribly sorry for that. So, let me apologize first and foremost. Second, I need to thank all of you with cyber hugs and kisses and heavy petting for your well wishes and how ya'll defend me. Like, you're all seriously my family. You're not just a fandom. I love every single one of you. When someone good happens to me, I have to tell you guys and when something bad happens, I have to tell you guys or else it's like... it's not real. Like, it's some weird dream. So. I have something to share with you all."

Maya stood up and showed off her still flat stomach to the camera.

"I know you're just like, 'girl that's just yo belly'. But, alas, it's not. There's... a baby in there. Yeah, guys. The reason why I got sick at MTV was because I got dehydrated and... I'm pregnant." She dropped back down to her bed and took another long, deep breath. "Still feels so crazy to say. I'm having a baby. And before anyone comments this: NO, it's not Farkle's. #TeamFarkleFever, do not drag me. Although, he isn't single anymore, just so you know but... yeah."

Her notes were sitting in front of her. They said things like 'just do it and end it'. But there was still so much more she wanted to say. She felt like she owed her fans that.

"Yes, I do know who the father is. No, we are not together right now and I am almost certain we will not get back together. If I lose your support because of this, I understand and I love you anyway for following this far. I always will. But for those who want to stick around... thank you. Really, _thank you._ "

Another one of her notes said, 'for chrissakes, don't cry.' She failed that one.

"It really means a lot that there are people out there that just follow me and like me for me. And as always man, things are gonna get weird! And emotional, with all these hormones flying about all nilly-willy! And crazy!" She laughed through her tears but then shrugged, "but what else do you expect from me, right? OK? OK. That felt good. I hope we all had a good cry, many more to come, I assure you but until then, I love you all." She made a heart with her hands and blew a kiss through it.

Outside her bedroom, Farkle was waiting for her. When Maya entered the living room, he stood up. "All done? How'd it go?"

She just ran into his arms. As she hugged her best friend like a life-line she asked him, "Farkle, tell me I'm making the right decision."

"Well, is it your decision? You're not doing this because you think it's what anyone wants you to do?"

"Yes."

"Then, it's the right decision." Maya heavily sighed and sprawled herself on the couch. Cautiously, Farkle sat down in the arm chair. "But Maya, you do realize that because you are keeping this baby, I have to tell Riley it's Josh's baby." Being reminded, she picked up a pillow and screamed into it. "And you have to tell Josh." She screamed even harder.

"But why?" She groaned, tossing the pillow at her assistant.

"It was one thing when I thought you two just had a fling but to keep the existence of a child from Riley? I can't do that, Maya. Not even for you." Farkle said, putting the white pillow beside him. "Besides, you said Josh was basically perfect. You're the one who freaked out."

"Do you want another pillow to your face?"

Farkle looked away from Maya and nervously fiddled with his thumbs. He mumbled, "I probably have it coming."

"Oh, yeah? Why?"

Farkle sighed, coming to sit next to Maya. She sat up, feeling that it was something serious. "I... I wanted to tell you this sooner but - everything with the album and the baby just kind of..." He swallowed his words.

"Farkle, what?"

"Remember when I went to New York that one week, to visit Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"It... wasn't just about her. I was there for an interview. Maya, I got a job. In New York."

* * *

 **And the hits just keep on coming. If you like what you read, please review. Thanks.**


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